An X‐band RLC matched power amplifier using quasi‐MMIC technology

Abstract

This article presents an RLC matched power amplifier using quasi‐MMIC technology in the X‐band. The power amplifier consists of a GaN HEMT power device and several passive components including inductors, capacitors, resistors, and transmission lines using a silicon integrated passive device (IPD) process. The standard silicon process can drive the solution to cost down compared with conventional microwave monolithic integrated circuit (MMIC) technology. This technology using silicon IPDs provides small size matching networks close to MMIC dimensions. The input matching network using the RLC matched circuit is designed to obtain broadband characteristic and gain flatness. The dimensions of input and output silicon IPD are 1.5 mm × 1.2 mm and 1.9 mm × 2.2 mm, respectively, with a thickness of only 0.15 mm. The measured results show that the quasi‐MMIC power amplifier has a P3dB of more than 38.3 dBm with a drain efficiency of more than 51.2% in the frequency range from 8.2 to 10 GHz. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 57:2803–2807, 2015

Compact and low‐loss wilkinson power divider using a high‐Q spiral inductor on a sapphire substrate

“…The inductors in Figure B and C were fabricated with same structure using the conventional IPD process, except substrate material, in which a photosensitive polymer insulator (SU‐8) was used. Figure shows the measured Q factor and series inductance of the 3 fabricated spiral inductors.…”

“…These methods were used to design a lumped power divider as shown in Figure A. The fabrication process of the Wilkinson power divider is similar to the conventional IPD process . First, the resistance of the power divider is formed by a thin film resistor with NiCr.…”

A broadband RLC matched GaN power amplifier using interposer‐MMIC technology

“…L‐band Wilkinson power dividers using IPD technology on semi‐insulating GaAs substrates have been reported in Reference . An RLC matched power amplifier based on quasi‐MMIC technology for X‐band operation, reported in Reference . The broadband quasi‐MMIC Doherty power amplifier has also been reported in Reference .…”

A high‐efficiency gan power amplifier with harmonic control based on Si‐IPDS

“…S‐ and C‐band quasi‐MMIC power amplifiers using GaAs‐based passive MMIC have been reported , as has a balanced quasi‐MMIC wideband (2–4 GHz) power amplifier using GaAs . An X‐band RLC matched power amplifier using Si‐IPDs has also been reported . The trends show that the new challenge is to design the smallest possible power amplifier with the highest efficiency.…”